Sleuths of the Anti-Terrorists Squad of Uttar Pradesh have arrested a 12th standard student from Orai town in Jalaun district of Bundelkhand region for making threat calls to blow up the Miami airport in the USA last month.
On getting information from the FBI, routed through the NIA, the UP police arrested the youth, who is just over 18 years of age.
Director General of Police OP Singh told media here on Saturday that the youth had accepted his crime and admitted that he had made five calls to Miami international airport, threatening to blow it up.
“The boy, during investigation, disclosed that during his call to the Miami airport, he had informed them that he had an AK-47 assault rifle and an explosive belt. The calls were made between October 2 and October 30,” the DGP said.
He said the boy, who is very intelligent, sharp and has good knowledge of computers, told the police that the reason for making the threat calls was that someone had duped him of his Bitcoins and even after several complaints the FBI had not taken any action.
“The boy said that he took $1,000 from his father, who runs a NGO, and invested it in Bitcoins five months back. He immediately got a big profit and on a word from an agent he invested $3,000 again but it was siphoned off. He complained to the FBI but no action was taken which irked him and he started making the threatening calls to the Miami international airport to blow it up,” the DGP said.
“We have arrested the boy and have seized his computer and mobile phone while further interrogation is underway,” the DGP said, adding that the boy also prepared fake Aadhaar card and e-mail ID which proves his good knowledge in computers.
Meanwhile, the DGP said that such incidents should be a warning for parents about their children’s activities.
“There is an urgent need for making students aware of cyber misuse and this should be included in school curriculum. Besides, parents should also monitor the activities of their children and avoid giving them huge amount of money,” the DGP suggested.
Singh said that very soon he would convene a meeting of school principals and discuss with them ways to prevent such incidents.